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IIS stands for Internet Information Services. It is a web server which provides access to web pages published on it. It does a similar role to Apache, except it is more user friendly. Getting it set up for the first time is actually easier than most people think.

Steps

1

Install IIS 5.1. This is a Windows Add-on available in Windows XP Pro or Windows XP Media Center editions of Windows XP.

Here you will see if it is running or not, the local IP Address it is configured on, and the current port it is using (Port 80 is default, however you may need to change this because most ISPs [Internet Service Provider] block that port).

Now right click on "Default Web site" and click properties, then go to the "Web site" tab. Change the IP Address to what your local IP Address is if it is not already set (to find out what your local address is click "start", then "run", then type in "cmd", then type in "ipconfig". Now look at the address beside "IP Address" and that is what it should be in IIS).

Now decide what port you want to use (anything above 1024 should be fine). You can leave it at port 80 but only if your ISP doesn't block it. If you do decide to change the port then note than whenever you navigate to your website then your syntax must be "domain.com:portnumber".

Now go to the "Documents" tab. Here you can set a default document to redirect to if no document is typed into the URL. To add a new document to the list click "Add" and then type in the name (you do not need the path but the file must be in the home directory that you previously chose).

Next close the properties window and right click on "Default Web Site" again. This time rollover "New" and then click "Virtual Directory" (you don't have to do this but it is a good practice). Select a logical name for your virtual directory such as "root" or something similar as to avoid confusion.

Now expand "Default Web Site" and you should see the name of your virtual directory. Expand the directory and you should see all of the files in there that are in your "Home Directory". Relax, you are almost done.

13

Once again, right click on "Default Web Site", this time rollover "All Tasks" and click on "Permissions Wizard"

Open up your favorite browser and type into the Location Bar: http:// localIPaddress:port/virtualdirectory/ or type in : http:// computername:port/virtualdirectory/ (if you did not change the port from port 80 then type in: http:// computername/virtualdirectory/)

15

To access your site from another location that is not on your network then type: http:// externalIPaddress:port/virtualdirectory/ (once again if you did not change the port from port 80 then type: http:// externalIPaddress/virtualdirectory/)

Tips

A good way to check if port 80 is blocked by your ISP is to go start>run>cmd. at the command prompt type telnet google.com 80. you can use any website. if you get any thing besides a Cannot connect error message it means port 80 is open and telnet connected.

References

About This Article

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 33 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 310,188 times.